So, I’ve been MIA from the blogging world for the past week. Last weekend we visited my family for our annual Father’s Day bash, and we left my son with my mom and dad for a few days after that while the hubby and I came home. I had big plans! Lots of things to accomplish without the companionship of my 18 month old. And sitting down and knocking out a few blog posts was on my list.
Well, that didn’t happen.
Errands, laundry, cleaning, and organizing happened.
And a little bargain hunting and decorating.
And some New Girl. (just being honest…)
So, here we are one week later with another Friday Faves!
I got a lot of positive feedback from my first Friday Faves last week, so I’m super excited to share 3 more faves today! Also, it made me really happy to know that fellow book nerds read this blog.
1. PINCHme
I love free stuff.
I mean, who doesn’t right?
PINCHme is a website that sends you free sample products via mail. And it’s actually legit. You sign up for free on their website and fill out a few short questionnaires about your interests so they know what kind of samples to offer you. They give out samples once a month, the 3rd Tuesday of the month. You’ll get an email reminder that morning, and you go to your account and see what samples they have matched up for you. It can be anywhere between 0-6. A couple of months I got nothing, but most of the time I get at least 4-5 offers. Out of those offers, you choose which samples you’d like (I choose all of them!) and you get them in the mail in about 6 weeks! Totally for free…no shipping or handling costs.
Once you get your box, PINCHme does ask you to go back to their website and leave a super quick review on the products. You don’t have to do this part, but they probably won’t keep offering you free samples if you don’t.
I just got my box yesterday and here’s what was in it: Shea Moisture Lotion, Hello Extra Whitening Toothpaste, Corazonas Heartbar Oatmeal Squares, Unisom SleepGels, Pure Leaf Green Tea, and Purina Cat Food.
I keep a basket in our guest bathroom and guest bedroom with stuff like toiletries and snacks for when guests stay the night, so these sample sized products are perfect for that kind of thing. Except the oatmeal squares…those didn’t quite make it to the basket.
2. MOD Pizza
I’ve had a few people tell me about MOD Pizza, but I just went for the first time on Tuesday, and…wow!!!
It’s when hangry meets frugal, and they get together and make a baby, and they call that baby MOD Pizza.
If you don’t know what MOD Pizza is, it’s basically the Chipotle or Subway of pizza. Here’s how it works: You walk up to a Subway style counter and pick your pizza size. 11 inches is the most common, and it’s only $7.87. They also have a 6 inch for $4.87. Then you go about telling them what sauces, toppings, veggies, etc. you want. As many as you want!!! They have 30+ choices. No matter how many toppings you get, it’s still the same price. Say what??
Chase and I each got an 11 inch and loaded the heck out of them with toppings. I got like 4 different meats on mine (obviously), black olives, roasted garlic, and artichokes. All for $7.87. You can imagine what something like that would cost at another pizza place that charges extra per topping.
And I only ate about half of it, so it was enough for 2 meals. A 6 inch pizza would have been more than enough, and I might just do that next time.
Also, you can order online! You have to pick it up (they don’t deliver), but it’s still a stellar deal! How awesome would your friends think you are if you brought one (or more) of these loaded pizzas to their next sports viewing party?? And if they’re clueless about MOD Pizza, it can be your own dirty little secret that you only paid 8 bucks for it.
Oh…I almost forgot the best part! The pizzas aren’t cooked in a traditional oven. They’re cooked in a brick fire oven, which makes them oh so tasty. If you’ve never had a pizza cooked this way, you’re missing out!
3. 80% off Hobby Lobby
I posted on my Instagram this week about how I got some major steals at Hobby Lobby on Monday. It worked out perfectly, because I was going to start working on slowly collecting things for my gallery wall in the living room. It turns out there was no need to slowly collect, because I found plenty of cutesy things at Hob Lob for way cheap!
Here’s a little trick about Hobby Lobby discounts: when Hobby Lobby is trying to get rid of items (like seasonal items after that particular holiday) they will continue to discount them about every 2 weeks until they reach 90% off. They usually go in increments of 50%, 66%, 80%, and 90%.
Right now, Hobby Lobby is trying to push out a pretty big selection of home décor, (about 2-3 aisles worth) so they are majorly discounted. When they have sales like this, I patiently wait and check the Hobby Lobby ad each week until it reaches 80% off. I don’t like to wait until 90% off because most of the stuff is picked through at that point.
So I’ve been watching this select group of home décor slowly make their way up the discount chain, until this week! 80% off! I wouldn’t even let myself go into Hobby Lobby to look these last few weeks, because I didn’t want to impulse buy. So here’s what I scooped up:
The little metal thingys and the hanging canvas signs were marked down to $1.50 each.
The “Happily Ever After”, “Oh, Happy Day” and “Don’t worry, be happy” were each between $2-3.
The 4 lion pictures at the bottom were $2.80 a piece, but I wanted them just for the frame. Large frames are expensive, and these 11×14 frames were a major steal!
Once I replaced the lion pictures and got everything on the wall, here was the finished product. Sorry about the terrible lighting! I posted this same picture on IG, and somehow it’s easier to see there.
For under $25, I was able to feed my decorating soul without the buyer’s remorse afterwards.
According to my calculations (Magic School Bus anyone?? Anyone…?), they’ll still have this stuff on sale next week for 80% off, and then possibly 90% off after that. So there’s still time for you to go snag some deals!
P.S. They have this same big sale with all items labeled Spring and Summer. If you look at your Hobby Lobby ad right now, they’re already marked down 50% off. Over the next 6-8 weeks, Hobby Lobby will slowly start discounting them more and more. Until about August they reach 80% off and then even 90%! I know this because for the last 3 years I’ve gone and totally cleaned Hobby Lobby out during this sale! Don’t be fooled by the “spring and summer” label…lots of items in the group include things you can use year round: kitchen décor, table runners, wooden and canvas signs are just a few things I remember snagging last year. This is a great time to stock up your gift closet and get some cute home décor on the cheap.
That’s it for Friday Faves this week! As always, I love reading your comments and feedback below!
Have a great weekend!
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